A U.S. appeals court cleared the way on Wednesday for 18 federal agencies to once again fire thousands of employees who lost their jobs as part of President Donald Trump's purge of the federal workforce but were later reinstated by a lower-court judge in Maryland.

A federal appeals court in Washington on Monday reinstated members of the Merit Systems Protection Board and National Labor Relations Board who had been fired by President Donald Trump, escalating fights over Congress’ ability to protect federal officials from removal.

A federal appeals court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s administration to fire thousands of probationary workers, halting a judge’s order requiring them to be reinstated